The next day, Li Ying awoke on a low, flower-patterned nanmu wood couch. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, then put on her clothes and got up to open the door. Outside, the sky was crystal clear, with gentle breeze and pleasant sunshine.
Judging by the sunlight, it was at least 9-11 AM.
She vaguely remembered that last night, with their imminent separation, she had been reluctant to leave Cui Xun. So she had taken the memorial he had written and made conversation: “Your handwriting is so beautiful, who was your teacher?”
Cui Xun mentioned a name, and Li Ying said, “Thirty years ago, he wasn’t that famous. I never imagined that thirty years later, he would be teaching the son of the Boling Cui clan. But I remember he specialized in semi-cursive script?”
Yet the memorial Cui Xun had written was in small, regular script.
Small, regular script was proper and conventional in style, while semi-cursive was unrestrained. Cui Xun seemed reluctant to answer this question, but as Li Ying held the memorial and looked at him expectantly, he finally said: “My teacher indeed excels more in semi-cursive, which is what I learned too. But I used to write better semi-cursive before. Now I don’t have the right state of mind for it anymore.”
Li Ying responded with an “Oh,” and quickly added: “Your small regular script is good too.”
The Late Emperor had mastered the flying white script that rivaled the masters, and Li Ying excelled at imitating the Late Emperor’s flying white script, so she knew a little about calligraphy. Holding the memorial in her hands, she exchanged insights with him. She was also mindful that Cui Xun should rest early, so she planned to say just a few words. But as they continued talking, she completely lost track of time, and in the end, it was she who fell asleep on the desk.
Cui Xun must have carried her to the low flower-patterned nanmu wood couch, allowing her to sleep until mid-morning.
Li Ying annoyedly knocked her head. Although parting was difficult, Cui Xun’s health was already poor, and she shouldn’t have forgotten the time.
While feeling annoyed, she suddenly felt something in her ear, and upon removing it, found two small jade earplugs.
These were the earplugs Cui Xun had given her to use when she was afraid of thunder. Li Ying suddenly understood—the Chengtian Gate’s morning drums, which beat three thousand times at dawn each day, hadn’t awakened her because of these jade earplugs.
These earplugs must have been placed in her ears by Cui Xun to prevent the morning drums from disturbing her dreams. A warm feeling suddenly flooded Li Ying’s heart. Her first reaction was to hurry out to meet Cui Xun after court, but when her feet reached the vermilion wooden door, she inexplicably stopped. After thinking for a moment, she returned to the study to prepare calming incense for Cui Xun. The journey to Lingnan was long and tiring, so it would be good to prepare more.
While Li Ying was preparing calming incense for Cui Xun, he was presenting his memorial to the Empress Dowager. He earnestly requested permission to personally escort Shen Que to Chang’an, even making a military pledge that if Shen Que suffered any harm on the journey, he would pay with his life. The Empress Dowager remained silent for a long time before finally saying meaningfully: “Wangshu, is your concern for this case truly for Sheng Yunting, or something else?”
Cui Xun kowtowed and said: “Your Highness’s past teachings, I have kept them all in my heart. But Sheng Ah’man has risked her life to bring light to darkness, and I simply cannot ignore it. Some matters Your Highness cannot intervene in directly, but I can. If I fail, I am willing to die, and will not implicate Your Highness’s reputation.”
He spoke with determination, and the Empress Dowager understood. She sighed deeply. It was still about that matter.
She hoped the people would forget that incident, but he stubbornly insisted that everyone remember it, running counter to her wishes.
For three years, because of his stubbornness, she had advised him, punished him, reasoned with him, and even physically disciplined him, but could never change his mind. The path ahead was too difficult; she didn’t believe he could succeed, and this time was no exception.
She was about to refuse when she detected a faint, elegant fragrance from the memorial. The scent was very light, barely perceptible, lingering around her nose. In that moment, she was reminded of her daughter who had died young:
Mingyue Zhu…
As a princess, Mingyue Zhu had to learn the four arts, poetry, and elegant rhymes, but what she excelled at most was making fragrances. Because the Empress Dowager often suffered from headaches, Mingyue Zhu devoted most of her energy to crafting fragrances to alleviate her mother’s pain. Mingyue Zhu disliked overpowering scents, so most of the fragrances she created were subtle and lingering, like clear flowing springs, refreshing to the spirit.
The fragrance on this memorial was somewhat similar to the Mingyue Zhu used to make.
The Empress Dowager couldn’t help but look beyond the pearl curtain at Cui Xun prostrating himself. She seemed to think of something, and the words of refusal never left her lips. After a while, the Empress Dowager finally sighed: “Very well, you may go to Lingnan.”
After the Empress Dowager’s approval, Cui Xun finally felt relieved. He thanked her and left Penglai Palace. The Military Marquis waiting outside approached, and Cui Xun said: “Prepare. We’re leaving for Lingnan today.”
The Military Marquis responded “Yes,” but after hesitating, added: “Commissioner, Liu Jiu just reported discovering spies monitoring outside your residence.”
Cui Xun wasn’t concerned. Since becoming Deputy Commissioner of the Investigation Department, he had made enemies throughout Chang’an, especially Pei Guanyue, who was determined to fight him to the death. Pei Guanyue had always sent spies to watch his residence; he would kill one batch after capturing them, and Pei Guanyue would quiet down for a while before returning later. He was already accustomed to this.
So Cui Xun merely grunted and continued walking quickly, his mind entirely focused on escorting Shen Que.
The imperial edict for Shen Que’s arrest would reach Guizhou first. The Governor of Guizhou, Zhang Hongyi, was an impartial man. In the Guizhou territory, there should be no worry about Shen Que being killed. But beyond Guizhou, it was hard to say.
The current plan was to write to Zhang Hongyi, requesting that the prison cart be delayed in Guizhou until he arrived, before proceeding beyond Guizhou.
While Cui Xun was contemplating this with furrowed brows, the Military Marquis following behind seemed hesitant to speak. Finally, as they left Daming Palace, he said: “Commissioner, about those spies…”
Cui Xun responded impatiently: “Didn’t you just tell me about them?”
“This is different,” the Military Marquis quickly said. “These spies are Daoist priests.”
At the Cui residence, Li Ying was grinding cassia branches, mugwort leaves, Sichuan lovage, and other medicinal herbs into powder when she suddenly heard two knocks on the carved wooden door. Her face lit up with joy as she happily went to open it, and sure enough, there stood Cui Xun in his crimson official robe.
Cui Xun had come in a hurry, not even removing his official hat, with fine beads of sweat covering his forehead. Li Ying was startled: “What’s wrong?”
Cui Xun pressed his lips together without speaking. He entered the study and closed the doors and windows tightly. He looked Li Ying up and down, and seeing her unharmed, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Li Ying was even more puzzled: “What’s going on?”
Cui Xun finally said: “Nothing…”
He paused, then said: “Pack your belongings. You’ll come with me to Lingnan today.”
Li Ying was surprised: “Didn’t you say I should stay in Chang’an?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Li Ying asked: “Why the sudden change?”
Cui Xun didn’t answer, but walked to the zitan wood table and sat down. He picked up some cassia branches from the bronze mortar that had not yet been ground, lowered his head to smell them, then looked up at the confused Li Ying beside him and softly said: “Mingyue Zhu.”
“Hmm?”
“Stay by my side.”
Li Ying was completely stunned. After a moment, she blushed and murmured: “You want me to go to Lingnan just to stay by your side?”
Cui Xun nodded.
Li Ying’s cheeks turned red like the morning glow. She said softly, “Actually, I also very much want to stay by your side.”
After saying this, she sighed gently: “Just thinking about being separated from you for twenty days, I couldn’t even make the calming incense properly. I even measured the cassia branches incorrectly.”
As she spoke, she frowned with an appearance of distress. Cui Xun couldn’t help but smile. Seeing him smile at her, Li Ying became annoyed and asked: “Are you going to say again, ‘Do you like me that much?'”
Cui Xun hadn’t intended to say that, but before he could respond, Li Ying picked up the white jade pestle and sullenly began grinding the cassia branches in the bronze mortar: “Yes, I do like you that much.”
She wasn’t expecting Cui Xun to respond to her declaration. Since their embrace in the plum forest, he seemed to have acknowledged her feelings, and they seemed to care for each other like ordinary lovers. He called her “Mingyue Zhu,” and she called him “Seventeenth Young Master.” In reality, even holding her hand required great resolve from him, let alone the intimacy of normal lovers. She knew he still loathed himself, finding himself dirty and unworthy of her. She saw all this but didn’t know how to change it.
Perhaps only with the slow passage of time, allowing her to get closer, would he gradually forget the past. Then he might have the courage to love her.
This process might take a year, or perhaps ten years, but that was fine—she could wait.
As Li Ying was grinding the cassia branches with her head lowered, Cui Xun was watching her intently. With her head bowed, a small portion of her earlobe, delicate as jade, was visible through her hair. Cui Xun recalled the alarming news he had received earlier, and that sense of lingering fear had yet to subside. If he lost her… he dared not think about it. He only knew that he would revert to being an evil ghost on the path of asuras.
Although he didn’t deserve to pluck the moon from the sky, after experiencing the fear of almost losing her, at this moment, he desperately wanted her to know his feelings.
He didn’t know where he found the courage, but he spoke with difficulty: “I also like Mingyue Zhu very much.”
Li Ying hadn’t expected him to say this at all. She looked up in surprise, the white jade pestle in her hand coming to a stop. Cui Xun’s tone gradually became solemn: “I like Mingyue Zhu very much and don’t want her to be harmed. Mingyue Zhu, I swear on my life, I will use all my power to protect you.”
If anyone could harm her, it would only be if he were dead.
Li Ying’s eyes grew warm as she gazed steadily at Cui Xun, her gaze as gentle as moonlight: “I don’t need you to swear on your life. I want you to live, to live longer, to be with me longer.”
To live… longer?
Cui Xun didn’t directly acknowledge her words. Instead, he seemed somewhat absent-minded. He lowered his head and changed the subject: “On this trip to Lingnan, we will certainly encounter obstacles. I had planned to split into two groups—one being the Investigation Department team taking the official road and staying at post stations, with Tang Wei impersonating me, while I would disguise myself and travel quickly to Lingnan with Liu Jiu. But if you come with me, it wouldn’t be convenient to bring Liu Jiu. So, Mingyue Zhu, will you come to Lingnan with me alone?”
Li Ying was happy to hear they wouldn’t be bringing Liu Jiu and would be going to Lingnan alone: “Though Liu Jiu is highly skilled in martial arts, my mental power is also sufficient to handle ordinary bandits. Don’t worry, the two of us going to Lingnan alone will be fine.”
Cui Xun smiled slightly and nodded: “Don’t make the calming incense anymore. Pack your belongings; we’re about to depart.”
After finishing his conversation with Li Ying, Cui Xun left the study and walked straight outside the residence. Several Military Marquises from the Investigation Department had been waiting for a long time. Cui Xun looked around—everything was quiet, the place as deserted as usual, with no apparent abnormalities at first glance.
Cui Xun asked: “Have you confirmed it?”
The Military Marquis said softly, “Yes, ten Daoist priests are spying outside the residence.”
A trace of ferocity flashed across Cui Xun’s face: “Kill them all. Dump their bodies at Pei Guanyue’s door.”
The Military Marquis was startled: “Wouldn’t that be too provocative?”
Cui Xun gave him a cold glance, and the Military Marquis fell silent in fear: “I’ll handle it right away.”